35 Weeks: Nesting Projects

July 30, 2012

Up until now, I hadn’t had much of an urge to clean my baseboards. It was all about decorating and making sure all of our little projects were complete. Then 35 weeks kicked in and I found myself….cleaning baseboards!! Craziness that one day I just looked down, saw dirt and was living a stereotype!

As you saw in the baby central post, earlier I was working on the basement. I wanted to create a cozy space to enjoy with the baby, and the black shelves we had down there felt outdated and old. I don’t know why I bought so much black furniture in 2005!?

So step one was to buy a bunch of spray paint at Lowes. Luckily spray paint is SUPER CHEAP! $3.98 for a bottle of Valspar – and it comes in so many awesome modern colors!

I learned when I painted the nursery fan and then the yellow box in our house the following tips: 1) wear gloves 2) wear a mask 3) sanding wasn’t necessary for nicely polished furniture 4) use a drop cloth that is not plastic that blows in breezes (learned in part II of this project) and 5) wait for a cool day – do not attempt at noon on a 100* one!

Step one was primer! The shelves took 2 coats. I loved it so much more already!

I didn’t bother with the undersides – mostly because I am lazy and ran out of paint! Only crawling babies will see it anyways : )

I also neglected the back – the wall won’t care. [Note the terrible drop cloth idea – I ended up using an old curtain later on that worked so much better with summer breezes!]

After a few hours of drying, I sprayed on the beautiful teal color!

All was well until I started in with can #2 to finish and start on a second coat. Suddenly everything was splotchy green and dark – nothing like the first coat!!

Same color, same day purchased, same user, same technique = different result

I think I just got a bad can because not only was the color different (like it hadn’t mixed well?) but the spray was so splotchy and uneven. The shelf looked tie-dyed!

So, so sad. I really didn’t want to go back and buy more paint! I ended up using the “new color” to turn the whole shelf greenish and let it sit on the porch for a few days to mull over what to do.

I actually started to like the color alright, but the splotches were still bothersome.

Final decision: repaint:

And yay yay yay – the final coat went on perfectly!

The shelf feels brand new and now resides in the basement – covered in bright, cheerful colored baskets!

I had one more spray paint nesting project to note – a rocking chair that Karen had given us needed a modern color as well:

And I turned it avocado green!!

This was so much easier to paint than the shelves – and I love the fresh color!

It matches our other porch furniture perfectly. And is cleaned up for indoor use if we need it for baby rocking.

Spray paint for the win!

[SO glad to be finished with painting projects though – they were not the most fun!]

Was the primer a spray paint also? I have a shelf I wanted to spray, but I’ve been lazy in figuring out what I need to do. It is unfinished pine wood, so I think I have to sand it. Ugh. But I am so sick of the light wood look!

The paints were Valspar from Lowes – in the spray paint section. I don’t think the colors had names or anything, but they only have one teal blue and one avocado green, so they will be easy to spot. They have lots of awesome colors!

Nice color! I am surprised you didn’t sand. Usually smooth surfaces require sanding to help the paint to adhere better for long term durability. I have lots of black furniture from the 90’s too. Seemed like a good idea at the time!

The reason why you want to sand is that if you don’t, over time the paint can peel off easily – which won’t be good if you have the bookshelf around your little boy, especially when he gets to the age when he’ll want to put everything in his mouth! It may not be apparent right away, but skipping that important step may mean peeling paint down the line.

I know you were wearing a little mask, but weren’t you concerned about the fumes? Spray paint is not low VOC, and to do as as many coats as you did must have taken some time… I would not have exposed my baby to all that, personally.

This is really where you need to pull the “I’m pregnant” card and have someone else spray paint for you. Doing this many spray paint projects (or really any at all) cannot be good for you and the baby.

I am really baffled by your response on this on whole topic. You seem so focused on doing what’s best for your baby, which is why I (and a lot of other readers, I’m sure) cannot understand why you would use spray paint while you’re pregnant.

It does seem kind of weird that you are worried about a few non-organic peaches but will hang out in a cloud of spray paint for days- I’m a scientist which is a field you’ve expressed interest in countless times, you must realize that you can’t adequately judge how many potentially dangerous substances you are breathing in just by the way you felt the breeze blowing. Although no one can say exactly how much risk you put yourself and your baby at, they’re just saying that zero risk is best, I think we can all agree on that.

I ingest peaches/fruit every day. This project took me maybe an hour or two total? I agree with you that if you said “is it better to spray paint or not spray paint” the answer would be better not to, but what’s done is done. I’ve googled spray painting and several people were freaking out from paint exposure and said their doctors’ responses were that a little is not going to do any harm. The concern is with long-term exposure or direct inhalation.

The colors are beautiful! I can’t wait to have my own backyard to do such projects. We’re currently in an area of town houses with community yards. I’m not even allowed to shake out a dusty rug! Anyways, I love blues and greens. We also bought a lot of black items in 2005!

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